Prep Focus: Focused Brower Turns Hampton Around

Crabbers' Coach Finds Winners With Discipline

February 20, 1990|By MIKE KEECH Staff Writer

HAMPTON — In 1969, when Coach Glenn Russell was guiding Hampton High School to the state basketball championship, the man destined to return the Crabbers to that summit was just beginning his coaching career in Enfield, N.C.

Walter Brower remembers that otherwise forgettable Enfield basketball team for one reason - its discipline.

With no players over 6 feet tall, it won only one game. But that victory came over a team that had trounced Enfield earlier in the season. Brower's mites won the rematch 20-18 using a disciplined, four-corner offense.

Now in his eighth season as Hampton's head coach, Brower is still a staunch believer in discipline. And after a rocky start that rendered three losing seasons in his first four years, he has the defending state Group AAA champions one victory away from their third consecutive 20-victory season.

No team has won 20 games over three consecutive seasons since the Peninsula District was formed in 1965. The last Peninsula Group AAA team to do so was Newport News High, which won 20 or more for four straight seasons in the late 1950s.

Entering tonight's district tournament semifinals against Lafayette, Hampton is 66-12 since the start of the 1987-88 season. The Crabbers have already qualified for their fourth consecutive Eastern Region tournament appearance.

And the success is likely to continue since graduation losses this season should be offset by graduates of an unbeaten junior varsity team.

"That's the best junior varsity team I've ever seen around here," said Denbigh assistant coach Maxie Anderson, a veteran former junior varsity coach and Ferguson High player. "They're all over 6-feet and quick."

Brower is quick to cite increased talent for Hampton's recent success, but his efforts in finding and molding that talent have been vital.

The turning point of Brower's work in that regard came in the 1985-86 season.

That year he took a teaching position at Hampton and no longer faced the daily shuttle between teaching at Lindsay Middle School, and coaching at the high school.

"That was a big factor in the basketball program's improvement," Hampton Athletic Director Patricia Mitchell said. "Walter was in the building all day and could spot potential talent in the halls. He also got to know the kids better and could stay on them academically.

"I felt the potential for great basketball at Hampton was there and with Walter in the building all day it could happen."

"The teaching move did make a big difference," Brower said. "I felt the talent was there, it was just a matter of finding it.

"I remember finding David Keeter in the gym one day just shooting. I asked him if he'd considered trying out for the varsity. He said nobody had ever approached him."

Keeter made the team that year as a junior and was the second-leading scorer as a senior in 1986-87 when the program's turnaround began.

Brower's experience as an assistant football coach underMike Smith has also paid off.

"He's used to the discipline and long hours it takes to win from football," Mitchell said. "Walter is more intense than he was at first. His strength is that he knows what he wants to achieve and puts in the time to achieve it. The kids have a lot of respect for him."

Brower's overall coaching philosophy is unchanged from his days at Enfield, but he does say he's made some adjustments.

"I stress discipline on and off the floor," the North Carolina A&T graduate said. "Everybody must play within the system. I've had some talented playground players try out for the team, who wouldn't adjust to my system. They didn't make the team!

"I wasn't patient enough with the kids at first. Maybe I tried to pattern myself too much after college coaches. I did things like going to a delay offense too often in the late stages of games, but I've made adjustments."

Brower has also benefitted from the constant presence of junior varsity coach David Blizzard, who took that position when Brower was elevated to the varsity.

"Our systems aren't identical yet, but we're most of the way there," Brower said. "We disagree a little on defense. I believe you have to play man-to-man 90 percent of the time to be successful at this level, especially since the creation of the 3-point shot.

"Sliding to cover different areas in a zone doesn't teach you to get better."

But there is complete agreement between the two coaches on the overall development of players.

"Discipline and self-control are crucial," said Blizzard, a star at Pembroke High and Winston-Salem State in his playing days.

"We work hard on the little things like making the smart pass and getting the mental edge where you feel nobody can beat you.

"I'm not surprised by our success because the kids now believe in themselves and we've gotten the breaks to push us over the hump."

Blizzard believes at least five of this year's junior varsity players will make a significant varsity contribution next season.